wfn.org | Global webcast planned for Wesley celebrations

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

June 2, 2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
10-71BPI{306}

NOTE: An artist's rendering of John Wesley is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html. For further coverage of
tercentenary events, see UMNS stories #039, #058 and #247.

By Kathleen LaCamera*

LONDON (UMNS) - People around the world will be able to log on to a webcast
of Britain's national service marking the 300th anniversary of John Wesley's
birthday. 

The webcast will be live from Lincoln Cathedral on June 17, beginning at 8:30
a.m. EDT. British Methodists will join with representatives from across the
United Kingdom and all over the world in an ecumenical celebration of the
life and legacy of Methodism's founder. 

On the same day, a group of young British Methodists will begin a 12-day
walking pilgrimage in honor of Wesley. The pilgrimage begins at Lincoln
Cathedral and ends in Llandudno, North Wales, at this year's British
Methodist Conference. 

Celebrations of Wesley's tercentenary are already under way with a host of
services, special events, exhibitions and conferences around the United
Kingdom. The month of May saw a weeklong Wesley festival at Methodism's
oldest chapel, the New Room in Bristol. In London, St. Paul's Cathedral held
a special Wesley evensong, while Wesley's Chapel - a place Wesley himself
deemed "neat but not fine" and the site of his grave - held a full weekend of
anniversary events. 

For the next five months, Wesley's childhood home, the Old Epworth Rectory in
Lincolnshire, is exhibiting his letters, on loan from the British library. In
Manchester, scholars from around the world will gather in June for an
international symposium on Wesley's "life, legend and legacy." The British
Broadcasting Corp., will air a special Wesley "Songs of Praise" television
program, while BBC Radio will broadcast a worship service focusing on
Wesley's influence on modern Britain. 

Christine Morgan, a Methodist local preacher and BBC producer, sees the 300th
anniversary as an opportunity to re-examine the essence of Wesley's faith in
a modern context. 

"For John Wesley ... the Gospel was for everybody. He got out there," Morgan
tells United Methodist News Service. "Wesley rode around, driven by this
passion for everyone to be included. If this anniversary does anything, I
hope it helps us remember that the legacy of John Wesley is to be as open as
we can be .... and not to get tied up in the minutiae of life in one
particular church."

Pauline Webb, a writer, broadcaster and former British Methodist Church vice
president, agrees. She believes this milestone is an opportunity to look at
how one man's personal faith experience not only spawned an institutional
church but a worldwide faith movement. 

It's important not to be too nostalgic, Webb says. "The Methodist movement is
much more important than any institution."

Webb pointed to a recent U.K.-wide survey of the top 100 Britons of all time,
in which Wesley ranked at No. 50 - ahead of any other religious figure on the
list. 

"Wesley was a campaigner for the abolition of slavery, he had concerns for
the poor, for a just society. ... In many ways, he influenced the whole faith
of Britain in the 18th century," she explains.

As part of its 300th anniversary observances, the Methodist North Bank Center
recently hosted a retreat called "Encountering God in Methodism." The Rev.
Mark Wakelin, director of this center for the support and encouragement of
Christian living, finds Wesley an inspiration for contemporary Christian
life.

"His mixture of conviction and intelligent engagement (with society) is a
resource for many important movements required of the church today, whether
they are ecumenical, evangelical or interfaith," Wakelin observes. 

Almost three centuries on, Wakelin says Wesley would still recognize his
legacy in places "where a desire to engage in social issues is matched by a
longing for Christ to be known, and where careful, conscientious Christian
are prepared to get lost in wonder, love and praise." 

For more information on other events around the United Kingdom, visit the
Wesley 2003 Web site at www.wesley2003.org.uk. To watch the webcast at
Lincoln Cathedral on June 17, log on to www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire at 8:30
a.m. EDT. 
# # #
*LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in England. 

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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